Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic silver medalist Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova of Slovakia claimed the women’s trap title, today, at the ISSF World Championship in Changwon, and she did it in a spectacular fashion.
The 34-year old Slovakian athlete beat China’s Wang Xiaojing in a shoot-off for gold, after the two athletes shot neck and neck right to the last clay, finishing tied with 45 hits out of 50 targets each.
Stefecekova cleared the shoot-off outscoring her Chinese opponents 3 to 2 hits, claiming the title for the second time in her career.
Wang Xiaojing had her chance to win as Stefecekova missed on her last clay in the final. But the Chinese shooter wasted it, as she missed as well, entering the slippery shoot-off situation that eventually placed her in second.
Bronze went to Italy’s Silvana Stanco, 25, who scored 36 targets to claim her first world championship medal in career. She was followed by Australia’s Laetisha Scanlan, 28, who finished in fourth place with 30 hits, outscoring Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yi Chun (5th with 25 hits) and Spain’s Beatriz Martinez (6th with 19 hits).
The top four shooters - Rehak Stefecekova, Wang, Stanco and Scanlan - also secured an Olympic quota place for Tokyo 2020.
The new world champion Stefecekova said:
“The goal of the day was to achieve an Olympic quota place. And I made it. I am so happy that’s in my pocket!”
“Everybody know that I struggle in finals, sometimes. It can be great or it can be really bad. Today it has been great, probably my best final ever.”
“It was open until the end, it was really thrilling,” she added. “I think the new competition format works very well.”
The Slovakian athlete had already won an ISSF World Championship in 2010, in Munich, and today’s victory adds to two ISSF World Cup titles (2004, 2014) and two European titles (2015, 2016).
“This victory comes eighth years after my first world championship title,” she commented, “it has been a while and it feels great.”
“Having won an Olympic for Tokyo at the first qualifier allows me to plan for the next season. I won’t have to rush it, running everywhere around the world.”
Bronze medalist Stanco led the Italian team atop of the podium, with a new world record score of 343 hits (Silvana Stanco, Jessica Rossi and Alessia Iezzi). Team Spain (Beatriz Martinez, Fatima Galvez and Francisca Munoz De Leon Moral) followed in second with 342 hits, while USA (Kayle Browning, Ashley Carroll and Aeriel Alease Skinner) begged bronze with 339 clays.
“What a day!” Stanco said. “When I found out I was in the top-4, I totally relaxed. It was all about the Olympic quotas, today.”
“I won a quota, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I will go to Tokyo,” she added. In the past Olympic cycle, she had also won a quota place, but the Italian coach then selected Jessica Rossi to compete in the 2016 Games.
“Rio was my dream, and I did not make it. I will have to work hard on the road to the 2020 Olympics. And I will.”
“I find the new ISSF rules for the women’s trap event to be great,” concluded Stanco, commenting on the new ISSF rules, adopted to achieve a full gender equality in the sport, ahead of Tokyo 2020. “Competing over 125 targets - compared to 75 targets as it was before - is more fair. The best athlete will stand out, at the end of the day, over the longer distance.”